Retired
by evieeden
Summary: Clint gets a phone call from Natasha about the Accords. Spoilers for CA:CW.
**I've now seen Civil War 4 times and I love it. But it's especially rekindled my love for Clint Barton, who is just awesome, let's face it. So I have lots of feels that have splurged out in fic form. Anyway, I really hope you like this and thanks so much for reading.**

 **Retired**

The phone call comes late in the night. He knows it's Nat even before the first ring ends; Laura might accuse him of hearing things, but he swears blind that the ringing sounds completely different from normal phone calls.

"Yeah."

"Does Laura know you answer the phone like you were born in a barn? What if I'd been someone important?"

Clint smirks at that. "Important, like who? All the important people I know are dead or in hiding."

"Or Hydra," she added dryly.

"Or Hydra," he agrees amiably. "What's up?" If it were anyone else he would carry on with the small talk, maybe ask about the new facility and how Wanda is getting on with her training (he kind of feels responsible for the kid, especially since the situation in Sokovia went balls up), but this is Natasha and she wouldn't be calling at 11.30 at night unless it was something important.

"We had a visit today, from Stark and Ross."

Clint grits his teeth. He never liked Ross, even before the whole shit storm with Banner went down in Harlem. The man had a bad reputation, even in SHIELD, and seemed a little too keen to throw anyone and everyone in the line of fire if it won him the victory. He could only imagine that the man had become more of a dick since becoming Secretary of State. The fact that he was now visiting the facility could only mean that the government had come to some sort of decision regarding Sokovia, and the more recent mission in Lagos.

Still, it was easy to blame the good guys for everything that went wrong when the bad guys were too dead to defend themselves.

"And?"

Natasha sighed. "They come up with these accords, signed and ratified by the UN. The Avengers are to be overseen by a special panel who decide where we go and which fights we take. All enhanced humans need to sign and register, so they can monitor us."

Clint frowned and grabbed a nearby kitchen knife. No-one was physically attacking him, but he could understand the implications well enough. They would come for them, if they thought they were a danger.

"And?"

He could hear the tiredness in Natasha's voice. "We're split. On whether to sign or not. This is not something that we're going to be able to agree on."

There was a creak on the stairs and Clint spun, knife ready to throw, only to lay it gently on the counter with a sheepish grin when Laura came into sight, wrapping her dressing gown around her. She raised an eyebrow at the knife and slipped under the arm he was holding out.

"Nat?" she mouthed curiously. He nodded.

"And who is agreeing to what exactly?" he asked his old partner.

"Tony's going to sign. He's already made up his mind; I think he was ready before the rest of us even knew about the Accords."

That didn't sound like Stark. "He wants to be monitored? To answer to the UN?"

"He got cornered somehow. There was a boy in Sokovia who died and the parents caught up to Stark. He's feeling guilty."

"Well, I would probably feel guilty too if I'd created something like Ultron."

Natasha's voice grew an edge that Clint didn't like. "It's more than that. It's like… he's decided that this is the only way forward for everyone, the only way we can operate anymore. I think he's so desperate to make amends that he'd agree to anything at the moment, but it could easily all go south." She laughed caustically. "I'm not sure everyone's up for Tony Stark being the voice of reason in this."

Clint frowned. "So what are the options then? Sign these Accords and this register or whatever or what?"

Laura leaned back, a frown now creasing her forehead and she rubbed his chest reassuringly.

"Or we're operating outside the law and whoever does sign will be working to hunt us down and stop us."

So that was it then. Either sign up to some kind of register and agree to be controlled by the United Nations or become what… vigilantes? Criminals?

"Any other options?" he asked, because he knew Nat would have checked.

"Ross says that we can officially retire. If we're not signing or not getting arrested then we're not working, Clint."

Not working. Not fighting. He thought about it for a minute. He could do it; he knew he could. He had Laura and the kids. He had his farm and a hundred little things that came from living a normal life. He could do it. Sure, he liked helping people and being an Avenger enabled him to do that – it was part of the reason he had taken Coulson up on his offer all those years ago and joined SHIELD – but not everyone had that.

Natasha didn't have that, especially after Bruce. Sure she had him and Laura and the kids, but he understood her need for family, for something to ground her and help her make amends, probably better than she did.

She would stay, he realised. She would sign along with Stark. Now that SHIELD were gone, the Avengers were the thread she was clinging to to wipe out her ledger. She wouldn't let that go just because someone else wanted to pretend to be in charge for now.

And just as he knew that Natasha would sign, he also knew that Cap wouldn't. Steve wasn't one for political agendas and besides, he had lived through most of World War II. He would know the dangers that came from forcing a group of people who were different to register and place themselves wholly under someone else's control.

First the Accords, then the monitoring, being registered, being watched, being scrutinised for weaknesses just in case this panel or whoever decided that they were too dangerous after all and needed to be taken out.

He couldn't hold with that, with the thought that one day he, and his family, would be hunted down and exterminated by their own government due to fear. Better to stay under the radar, make them think he wasn't a threat to their twisted system at all. He could blend in better than most; after all, he was only human.

"So you and Stark are signing," Clint ignored Nat's sharp intake of breath that he had called her so easily, "and Cap's not. How about the others?"

"Umm." For once she sounded unsure of herself. "Rhodey and Vision are also signing. There was an equation…" He didn't know what that meant, but he could only assume the creepy android had come up with some kind of probability model of the consequences for and against signing. "Where Cap goes, Sam follows."

She paused. Laura squeezed him a little tighter and he pressed an absent kiss to the crown of her head.

"And Wanda?"

Natasha's voice was hesitant when she replied. "She hasn't decided yet. What happened in Lagos shook her, especially since the government is already considering taking her away since she's in the country illegally."

Clint gave a short, bitter laugh. "And will they transport her back to Sokovia…or what's left of it… or take her somewhere else?"

"Clint…" Natasha paused.

"Don't!" he stopped her harshly before she could offer any excuses. He had the feeling that he would be hearing a lot of those over the next few months. "Where is she now?"

"At the compound. Vision's keeping her company."

"Keeping her company or keeping her hostage?"

There was a pause.

Clint continued. "You know as well as I do that Stark is threatened by her and now she's not 100 percent on his side, he's never going to let her out again."

"I think you're being a little dramatic, don't you?" Natasha's voice held a thread of humour that he could immediately tell was faked.

Was this what they were coming to? Natasha putting on her best 'helpless little woman' impression to try and throw him off the scent of the real issue.

"Am I? I thought I was thinking of my team mates."

The silence on the other end of the line cut him deeply.

"What happens when they come for her, Nat? Will you protect her? Will Stark? Or will you let her go, scared and alone, to whatever hole they shove her in?"

"Clint.." The surety in her voice was gone.

"What happens when they decide Wanda isn't enough? When they come for the rest of us too?" He sighed and pinched his nose. "They will come for us, Nat. Make no mistake."

"If we can see what's coming though then we can anticipate their next move."

"And if they don't let you see? If they have you cleaning up their messes only to throw you back into a gilded cage the second you're done?"

Clint squeezed Laura lightly and then let her go. Cradling the phone between his ear and shoulder, he made a few quick hand gestures. His wife gave a small smile and nodded at him and pressed a soft kiss to his cheek before hurrying upstairs so where they kept their emergency stash of supplies. He watched her go with a worried frown.

He lowered his voice. "What happens when they come for the people we love, Natasha? When they come for Laura and the kids?"

"I won't let them," his partner immediately vowed.

"You might not have a chance," he shot back.

"Clint." It was half protest-half resignation.

"When do you sign?" he asked.

"Two days' time. There's going to be a special UN panel to ratify the Accords in Vienna. I'm going as the Avengers' representative to sign there. The others are signing tomorrow in DC, and Vision signed tonight at the base."

"Yeah, I guess he wouldn't work so well at making us all look like harmless, normal folks." He couldn't help the bitterness in his voice.

God, this had the possibility to become a real shit-storm.

"Are you coming out before you go to Europe?" he asked. No matter what he thought of the dangerous game Natasha was playing, she was still family and he would give her the chance to see the rest of them before they disappeared somewhere not even Fury would be able to find.

"No," she answered regretfully. "I have to stop off in London first."

"London?" It wasn't one of her usual boltholes.

"Carter passed away yesterday. Steve and Sam took off for the funeral about an hour ago."

The headache was now a brass band pounding against his temples. "Fuck."

"Yeah." Her voice became quieter. "It's all falling apart, Clint."

Moving across the kitchen, he eased himself into a chair and tipped his head back, closing his eyes. "It'll come together again though, eventually. Just maybe not how we pictured it back in the old days."

"But it won't be the same."

"I don't think it can be. Not this way anyway." Clint felt tired, like bone deep tired.

From upstairs he could hear Laura rummaging around in the attic, fetching supplies. If he was going to be of any use to anyone – and he knew he would get drawn into it one way or another – then he he needed to get Laura, Lila, Cooper and Nate out of here. It wasn't that he didn't trust his fellow Avengers with his life, but more he didn't trust them with his family's lives.

At a push, he trusted Steve and Nat, but the others… There were too many different agendas at play.

"You're moving them, aren't you?" Natasha's soft voice seemed to read his mind. "Getting them away from all this, away from us."

It almost made him angry how well she could read him sometime. "I'm just trying to keep out of it all."

Natasha laughed sharply. "Keeping out of it? That doesn't sound like you."

"Yeah, well, maybe I've learnt something at last." He sighed again and silence rang through the line.

Eventually, Natasha spoke. "You're not going to sign, are you?"

"Did you really think I would?"

He had given up his independence before – to the circus, to his brother, to SHIELD. He would be fucked if he let it happen again, especially since he was the one who always got screwed over.

She snorted. "I guess not. I just wish we all could stay together."

"I know you do," he finally replied. "And I'm sorry I can't make that happen for you." He really was. Natasha deserved a family more than most people he knew. It was just bad luck that she chose some of the most screwed-up people roaming the planet to hitch her wagon to.

"Oh Clint," she laughed again, "it's not your fault, or your responsibility. I knew what I was getting myself into."

A shift of feet behind him had him spinning around to see Laura appear in the doorway. He raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded. Just a few more emergency supplies to get ready and then they could head out first thing in the morning. Crossing the kitchen towards him, she sat down in his lap and he hugged her tightly.

"I know. You're a big girl. But I worry…"

"Worry about your family," she interrupted. "They're the ones who need you now."

He pressed his lips together and then nodded. "Take care in Vienna, Nat."

He went to hang up the phone, but held it back to his ear when he heard her call his name.

"Yeah?"

"What should I tell them?" she asked breathlessly. "If they ask whether or not you're signing?"

He couldn't do it, couldn't sign. So he was going to have to give it all up… give up the Avengers.

"Tell them I'm retired."

He hung up then. There really wasn't anything else he could say.

Laura's hand stroked comfortingly through his hair. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and breathed in the scent of her shampoo and Nate's lingering baby powder.

"We leaving?" she finally asked him.

He nodded. "In the morning. There's some bill that the United Nations want us to sign, to put us under their control, to make sure we're all registered. All of us, put on some register, like criminals or something."

She kissed the side of his head and hugged him tighter.

"And Wanda?"

Of course, she'd heard that part of the conversation.

"Stark's got her locked up at the base for her safety. God knows how long that's going to last."

Laura folded her hands over his shoulder and rested her chin on the back of them. "You'll go after her," she stated.

"If it comes to that. Hopefully it won't."

His wife hummed in agreement. "And if it doesn't?"

He drew back so he could see her face. "Then I guess I'm retired." He smirked. "Maybe I should take up golf in the meantime, or take the kids fishing or paintballing or something."

"They'd like that," he agreed. He patted her leg. "We should get to bed if we're getting going in the morning."

It wasn't until later when they were curled up together in bed that Laura spoke again.

"Is everything going to be okay, Clint?"

He thought about the Accords, about Tony and Steve on different sides of the registration process, about Wanda locked up in the base, about the strange tone to Natasha's voice when she had called, about the emergency bags packed downstairs and the safe house he hadn't even told Nat about in Arizona.

"I hope so."

It was the only promise he could give.


End file.
